1. Field
Embodiments relate to a refrigerator.
2. Background
A refrigerator is an apparatus in which cold air, generated via a refrigeration cycle including, for example, a compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve, and an evaporator, is supplied into a storage compartment to keep food stored in the storage compartment. The storage compartment may be a freezing compartment, in which foods or beverages are kept frozen, and a refrigerating compartment, in which foods or beverages are kept cold.
Refrigerators may be divided, based on an arrangement of the freezing compartment and the refrigerating compartment, into a top mounting type refrigerator, in which a freezing compartment is located above a refrigerating compartment, a bottom freezer type refrigerator, in which a freezing compartment is located below a refrigerating compartment, and a side by side type refrigerator, in which a freezing compartment and a refrigerating compartment are divided into left and right sides.
Functions of refrigerators have diversified from keeping food at a subzero temperature or at a temperature slightly above freezing. For example, a dispenser may be installed in a refrigerator door to provide purified water and ice, and a display may be installed on the front surface of a door so as to show a state of the refrigerator and enable the control thereof.
Large refrigerators with large storage capacities have been released, and in order to efficiently utilize a receiving space, door shelves and receiving cases may be provided inside a refrigerating compartment door to define a space to place items. A receiving case, which may be a space provided inside a door, separately from a storage compartment, may be referred to as a home bar or an auxiliary storage compartment.
In order to enable access to the auxiliary storage compartment without opening the door to the entire refrigerating compartment, a refrigerating compartment door may be provided with an opening, and a sub door may be mounted to open or close the opening. The door to open or close an interior of the refrigerating compartment may be called a main door, and the door to open or close the auxiliary storage compartment door may be called a sub door.
The sub door may have a same size as the main door so as to overlap the main door or may be smaller than the main door so as to be pivotably mounted inside the opening of the main door. The sub door may be mounted so as to be pivotable upward and downward about a horizontal axis, or may be mounted so as to be pivotable leftward or rightward about a vertical axis. When the sub door is mounted so as to be pivotable leftward or rightward, a basket may also be mounted to a rear surface of the sub door in order to utilize a space between the sub door and the opening of the main door.
In a general configuration of a door of a refrigerator, an outer door defining a front surface of the door and a door liner defining a rear surface of the door are coupled to each other, and an insulation material is provided in the space therebetween. In the refrigerator, a door dike is integrally formed with the door liner to enable a basket to be mounted. As the door liner is formed of a synthetic resin, the door dike may be integrally formed with the door liner by injection molding. However, the door dike protrudes to occupy storage space in the basket and in the refrigerator. In addition, if a panel formed of a different material, for example, a steel panel, is attached to the rear surface of the door liner of the sub door, it is difficult to form a basket mounting structure, such as the door dike, in such a panel.